Rotary drilling apparatus



Oct. 11, 1938. J. E. BRANTLY ET AL 2,133,017

ROTARY DRILLING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 1a, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 l l I l 1 INVENTORJ 'LjO HN EBEA/V 71K cLH/v MJH/MEE;

Oct. 11, 1938. J. E. BRANTLY ET AL 2,133,017

ROTARY DRILLING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 16, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 N Q q I; 00ers R [11 x R HM; J

- 4 I INVENTORS L/OH/VZffiZPA/VTLK L/EH/VMJH/ME/F.

W ATTORNEYS Oct. 11, 1938-. J. E. BRANTLY ET AL 2,133,017

ROTARY DRILLING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 16, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS \JC-JHNEBIPA NTZK.

L/OHNMSH/ME/P.

@MATTORNEY;

1938- J. E. BRANTLY ET AL 2,133,017

ROTARY DRILLING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 16, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS QJH/VEB/PA/VTL K BY L/H/V MJfi/MEE.

Z4; 9 Q ATTOR EYJ Patented Oct 11, 1938 UNITED STATES PATE sonar-panama mannrns John 1:. Manama. Calif., and John M.-

Shimer, Dallas, Tex,

@ New Jersey designers to Oil Well Sup- D y Company, Dallas, T

ex., acorporation of Ap l cation auras: 1s, 1e35, Serial No. 86,572

et chain extending from the drawworks at the the rotary at the center v side of the derrick to oi the derrick. i

This arrangement for driving the rotary and the hoisting mechanisms hasa number of disadvantages, among which are the space. taken up within the derrick by the rotary chain and its guard, the noise and wear of the rotary chain and the difliculty in setting the rotary in posihoists and bats small tion to drillla rat hol to receive the grief stem when the latter is hauled out of the well and disconnected from the hoisting apparatus. Moreover, a more powerful engine is required to operate the hoists than to rotate the rotary and, in driving the rotary from an engine common to the hoist as'is necessary in the drawworks ar rangement heretofore, used, the engine is run inefliciently a large part of the time because it is only required for short intervals for driving the part of its-power is used when driving therotary alone.

The control of the drilling operations is also more cumbersome when the rotary and hoisting mechanisms aredriven from a common source of power because. each operation is governed to some extent by the requirements of the other.

These various disadvantages are obviated and avoided in our present invention, in which the rotary is driven independently of the motive power for driving the hoisting mechanism or drawworks and in which a smaller power suited for driving the rotary eiiicientlymay be employed.

The various features of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of a California rig enibodying a preferred form 01 the invention; 2 is a plan view of a Mid-Continent arrangement embodying the invention; Fig. 3 .isa side view of ,the: rotary drillin unit; F 8. 4 is-a plan view of the rotary unit; and Fig.5 is a side view similar to that ofl ig. 3 butonalargerscalewith-parts (Ol. 255-19) w This invention relates to rotary drilling appa-.

used in drilling deep petroleum parts .broken away-to show the construction of the In our invention we provide the usual drawworks and hoist mechanism andan engine for driving them. We also provide a rotary anda separate engine for driving it. The rotary driving engine is of smaller power than that for operating the hoist inasmuch as less power is required-to rotate the rotary than is required to ohoist thedrilling equipment. The rotary driving the rotary under normal'drilling conditions and the drill is encountered as might'twist oil or aremounted independently of tlfe drawworks and its drill so that it may be moved to various posito stall when such resistance to the rotation ofoFFIcE l0.. engine may be of only sufllcient power to drive break the drill stem or other parts being driven 1 from the rotary. The rotary and itsdriving unit tions on the derrick floor. The engine for driving the rotary may also be provided with auxiliary connections to .the drawworks. or to the hoisting mechanisms to .operate the latter and hoist the tools in the event that the mainhoisting engine or the drawworks become broken or inoperative. For these emergency purposes the rotary may be disconnected from its driving englue .and the latter connected to 'the auxiliary hoist operating mechanism.

Referring moreparticularly tov Figs. 1 and 2 of the accompanying" drawings, drawworks I0, is

from a hoisting engine through a. sprocket chain l3 which drives the Jack shai't of the conditions but with insufiicient power, to drive the rotary if any part of the drilling tools become fast in the well and therefore insumcient to break the drill stem or other part of the drilling apparatus in the event of a stoppage of the stem or drilling tools. a

Power may be transmitted from the engine It to the rotary n through any suitable mechanism. The engine and driving mechanisms are however preferably so arranged that in case of emergency. the rotary maybe declutched or from the engine and .the

30 mounted at one side of a derrick H and is driven gaged and the engine l8 will drive the rotaryit independently of the hoisting mechanism and drawworks.

In case of emergency however the clutch 26 may "be disengaged or unclutched and the sprocket or 26 may be used to drive an auniliary' hoist. In the California arrangement shown in Fig. l a calf wheel it to which the dead end of the hoisting cable is. attached may be driven from the sprocket wheel 28 through a chain 29. that during normal operations the .chain 28 will be removed or in any event will be disconnected from the calf wheel. In the Mid-Continent arrangement shown in Fig. 2 the main drawworks it] may be driven, after disconnect- Y ing the clutch 26 from the sprocket wheel 25, through a chain 30 which may be mounted on the sprocket 25 to connect it to the jack shaft It of the drawworks. In case a calf wheel 38 is provided for the dead end of the cable, this calf wheel may be driven from the sprocket 20 through a chain 32. These are only emergency connections and will be understood that they are not used in normal drilling.

The rotary and its driving mechanism are mounted on a base formed of the 'si-zids 33 which rest on supporting beams resting on concrete piers 35. Itis therefore mounted. below the joists or I-beams 36 upon which the planking 31 of the derrick floor is mounted. This mounting brings the face of the rotary table only slightly above the derrick floor. The invention provides an effective reduction in, the floor space occupied by the drilling apparatus because the driving engine for the rotary oc cupies a space that is otherwise not used and the elimination of the driving chain between the derricks' and the rotary leaves this space free.

Our invention also enables the rotary to .be moved freely about the derrick whenever required. It is, for example, customary to drill at a short distance from the well an auxiliary shallow well, commonly called a rat hole" of a depth somewhat less than the length of the grief stem. With our invention the rotary and It will be understood, of course,

strength of .the drill stem all possibility of twisting off of the drill is eliminated. Elimination of the rotary chain and sprocket for driving the rotary from the drawworks saves valuable room on the derrick floor and provides a free passage between the drawworks and the rotary. The noise caused by the rotary chain drive and the wear and replacement cost of the rotary chain are also avoided: Wear on the rotary main engine is avoided. It is no longer ated. The independence of the rotary from the hoist also is advantageous in spudding because the ,hoist and the rotary can be operated simultaneously. The table can be turned at any speed desired, and at the same time, the drill stem or pipe can be raised or lowered through the table as often as desired, and provides an effective means for clearing the ball from the bit. The independent drive of the rotary and hoist enables the drill to drillrup-c wardly and thus to drill out bridges or cave ins,

that may occur above the bit.

What we claim is:

1. A drilling apparatus which comprises a ro= tary, an .engine for driving said rotary, a common supporting base for said engineand said rotary, a speed multiplying mechanism between said engine and said rotary, connecting means between said speedmultiplying means and said rotary, an emergency hoist driving sprocket between said engine and said connecting means and driven by said engine, and a second hohst driving sprocket driven by said speed multiplying mechanism.

2. A drilling apparatus which comprises a rotary, an engine for driving said rotary, a speed multiplying mechanism between the engine andthe rotary, clutch means between the speed multiplying mechanism and the rotary, a driving sprocket between the engine .and the clutch means and driven by the engine, and a second driving sprocket between the clutch means and the speed multiplying means and driven by said speed multiplying means. Y JOHN E. ERANTLY. JOHN M. SHIMER.

necessary to run these large and heavy power r elements except when the hoist is being oper- 

